Devices are known for forming bundles of mail items (letters, postcards, enveloped documents, folded newspapers, etc.) comprising a number of predominantly flat mail items stacked substantially parallel.
The bundles are then normally loaded by hand into standard containers for further processing or dispatch from the automated mail sorting plant.
So-called automatic emptying systems are known, by which the bundles of mail formed on the bundling devices are extracted and made available for further processing.
Different types of known devices share various drawbacks:                high device cost;        difficulty in processing bundles of dissimilar items, due to current standards accommodating widely differing mail items;        small bundle size processable; and        the way in which the bundles are packed for dispatch, which does not always make for easy transport or simplifying further processing at the receiving office.        
Moreover, some known devices employ non-standard, special containers, which are expensive, and mean the bundles must later be transferred to standard containers.
A need is therefore felt for a device that:                is low-cost;        employs bundling devices capable of accommodating widely differing mail items and preventing fall-out of mail items from the bundle;        employs containers currently used by each mail network (standard containers);        provides for reliable, labour-free, automatic bundle transfer.        